3 ms·

Macs vs PCs all over again? Cheap and customizable won over expensive, designed and usable. But Apple has cracked a mass-market since then (iPods), so either t

by 10ren 18y ago

Macs vs PCs all over again? Cheap and customizable won over expensive, designed and usable. But Apple has cracked a mass-market since then (iPods), so either they've learned how to dominate or (more likely) found the market that suits them in the form of "special-purpose consumer electronics". This latter hypothesis predicts that if the iPhone category become a general computing device, Apple will lose.

DougBTX 18y ago
Looks like we are still waiting for the "IBM Compatible" of smart phones. I also wonder what effect customization of hardware will have. With OS 3.0, hardware add-ons for the iPhone just got a whole lot easier. Arguably the iPhone is already highly customizable, selling a billion apps which don't require a fixed keyboard.
- 10ren 18y ago
  Yes, "IBM Compatible" is it exactly: modular vs. integrated. Integrated components (hardware and software) enables them to work very together, in terms of efficiency as well as usability. To make something as tiny and as fast as the iPhone means you have to squeeze every last bit of performance out of your components. Apple have done such a brilliant job, it is not at all apparent that the iPhone processor is on the slow side (about 600MHz [1]). Modular design becomes possible when the components become faster, because you don't need to integrate to get adequate performance. You can slap things together, even mix and match. Anyone can do it. It get customizable, but the most significant result of fast-enough components is that it gets cheaper. Faster components are inevitable. When they're fast enough, the iPhone acquires comparable competitors. How fast is "fast-enough" for a smart phone? I don't know, but according to Moore's Law, smart phone processors will hit netbook speeds (1.6GHz) in a bit over 2 years: 27 June 2011 [1] http://www.engadget.com/2007/07/01/iphone-processor-found-620mhz-arm/ http://www.engadget.com/2007/07/01/iphone-processor-found-62...

by 10ren 18y ago

DougBTX 18y ago

Looks like we are still waiting for the "IBM Compatible" of smart phones. I also wonder what effect customization of hardware will have. With OS 3.0, hardware add-ons for the iPhone just got a whole lot easier. Arguably the iPhone is already highly customizable, selling a billion apps which don't require a fixed keyboard.

10ren 18y ago
Yes, "IBM Compatible" is it exactly: modular vs. integrated. Integrated components (hardware and software) enables them to work very together, in terms of efficiency as well as usability. To make something as tiny and as fast as the iPhone means you have to squeeze every last bit of performance out of your components. Apple have done such a brilliant job, it is not at all apparent that the iPhone processor is on the slow side (about 600MHz [1]). Modular design becomes possible when the components become faster, because you don't need to integrate to get adequate performance. You can slap things together, even mix and match. Anyone can do it. It get customizable, but the most significant result of fast-enough components is that it gets cheaper. Faster components are inevitable. When they're fast enough, the iPhone acquires comparable competitors. How fast is "fast-enough" for a smart phone? I don't know, but according to Moore's Law, smart phone processors will hit netbook speeds (1.6GHz) in a bit over 2 years: 27 June 2011 [1] http://www.engadget.com/2007/07/01/iphone-processor-found-620mhz-arm/ http://www.engadget.com/2007/07/01/iphone-processor-found-62...